JUDGMENT
The three appellants George Karanja Mwangi (1st), Francis Karanja Kamau (2nd) and Marcellinus Muchoki Kamau (3rd) were convicted by the High Court sitting at Nyeri, (Patel J) of the murder, on the night of April 9 and 10, 1982, of a woman named Muthoni Thegeya at Kambirwa village in Muranga District of the Central Province. They were sentenced to death and have each appealed against conviction and sentence. Muthoni had three children: Paul Maina, Nyambura and Mwangi aged twenty five, eighteen and five years respectively, who all lived with her. The first appellant George, who lived with the Muthoni's, was the son of Muthoni's brother called Vincent Mwangi Thegeya. All the three children of Muthoni, the evidence on record revealed, were murdered that same night and buried with their mother in one mass grave in their potato garden. Their death was discovered on April 13, 1982.
On the morning of April 9 a neighbour, Wanjiku (PW 1), saw the deceased and her children alive at their …